Unfinished Business
by Ronin-ai
Summary: Dr. Odine, left to think and plan...and devise a way to get his revenge...


Unfinished Business

_These characters belong to Square-enix. I'm only borrowing them. _

House arrest. He was under house arrest. _He_, The Great Odine, was confined to his home, stripped of all access to outside information save what his minders..._jailors_...deemed safe for him to receive. Stripped of his research tools, his assets, his accolades...cut off from all outside contact save what the terms of his punishment allow. Cut off. Stripped. Isolated. And for what?

The charges levied against him were spurious at best. It could be argued that Sorceress Rinoa's laggard response to his summons, thus requiring that he retrieve her, had led to a misunderstanding of his motives. And if those individuals that had fetched her on his behalf had been overzealous in the performance of that task, what had that to do with _him_?

He could not be held responsible for the actions of others. And there was no direct proof that _he'd_ hired them. He was blameless.

Sorceress Rinoa should be _honored_ that _he_, The Great Odine, had found her such a fascinating conundrum that he had to take such measures to unravel it. A sorceress? _Pregnant_? And with twins no less? Such a thing had never been considered possible. And unanswered questions, unfathomable mysteries, Things That Should Not Exist and yet _do_.. Piqued his curiosity. They always had.

Once his curiosity was piqued, his fascination engaged, he would not stop trying to unravel the puzzle until he succeeded. That was simply the way his mind worked, and no blame could be assigned to the methods he used to get those questions answered, those mysteries revealed. It was all in the pursuit of knowledge after all, and no malice could be attached to that, regardless of the fates of his test subjects.

And really, there was no way of proving that his test subjects hadn't been volunteers, hadn't been informed of the risks inherent in Odine's proposed research. He had the paperwork to prove it...and no one left alive to refute it.

No one that is, until Sorceress Rinoa had escaped his facility. Escaped his grasp yet again...Or rather, her husband, that dogged young knight with the ice cold eyes of a killer, had freed her. He had underestimated the young man's strength and intelligence, to his detriment. He would not do so again.

It had been enlightening, to say the least, to observe the complexity of the Sorceress-Knight bond firsthand when they'd reunited whilst Rinoa was in the midst of preterm labor. Odine had learned a great deal just from that observation, and was vaguely disappointed when the Sorceress and both of her fetuses had survived, though it was a near thing. He would have liked to examine them.

He had so many questions still remaining, questions that scratched and itched within his mind and drove him nearly mad with the need to _know_. Were the sorceress and her offspring still living? What did they look like? Did they appear normal or were there physical effects from the magic in their mother's blood? What of the bond? Was there any influence from _that_ with regards to the results of a sorceress-knight mating? Did the children have _any_ of their parents' abilities inborn within them?

No one would tell him anything. They wouldn't even give him the morning paper, for Hyne's sake. No questions were answered; indeed, the watchers who had their eyes on him all the time would scarcely even give him a civil word, much less answer any questions he tried to ask. It made the time drag interminably.

Oh, he had diversions; they would allow him that much. He had his books; they couldn't take those away from him. And after a few years had passed with him appearing to meekly accept his fate (something he had long practice with, under Adel), they allowed him access to a computer, albeit with no internet access.

He also had his thoughts. THOSE could not be controlled; or _would_ not, at any rate. He didn't fool himself into believing that Sorceress Rinoa would not do that; the existence of the bond was proof positive that she could invade a person's mind at will. The rest of the world may not be aware of her true nature, but _he_ was.

She might have convinced the rest of the world, President Loire among them, that she was not a threat. That she was harmless and benign, and only wished to live her life in peace with her husband and her babies. Her husband. Her _knight_...who was also (and why this didn't frighten the liver out of anyone with even half a brain, Odine simply_ could not_ fathom) the commander of SeeD.

Sorceress Rinoa, who had inherited the powers of not one, but _two_ very powerful sorceresses, was married to the man who commanded the deadliest fighting force in the world. And he, Odine, had seen firsthand what that man was capable of by _himself_. With SeeD at his back, and his sorceress-wife at his side, whispering orders into his mind? _Terrifying_.

He shuddered, and a chill traced down his spine. She would have little use for him, when she finally made her move to take control. Dr. Odine's genius would mean nothing to her. Her feelings about him had been made very clear, when she'd hissed venomously to him her wish that her husband would crush his throat while she watched.

He very nearly had. Odine could still feel the young man's grip around his neck, like a band of steel, squeezing the life out of him. _Something_ had stayed the knight's hand...and it _hadn't_ been his sorceress-wife. And no, it wasn't _mercy_ either. The look in the SeeD's eyes had been murderous.

No, rather than simply killing him, they devised a far worse fate; at least to Odine's point of view. The had confined him to his home, but had taken away everything. They had isolated him from any contact save those sent to watch him like a worm under a microscope, and left him to stew in his own juices. It was little wonder that he felt more than a little mad after a few years had passed.

It wasn't that he couldn't leave his home; he could go outside, with an escort. It wasn't that he couldn't receive any communication, he could but it was minutely scrutinized before he got it. _All_ personal communications were monitored, examined. He still had his creature comforts, his books and eventually even access to his lab, with supervision. But to be cut off from any new information, to be restricted in what he could and could not do...Frustrating. Irritating. Annoying.

_However_. He had endured worse under Sorceress Adel. She had confined him in one of her dungeons on more than one occasion when he didn't deliver the results that she demanded. She had even tortured him, stopping short of killing him only because she was intelligent enough to recognize his genius. He knew well enough when to keep his head down and keep mum, toe the line and follow the rules. Do that long enough, and they stop paying attention. They always did. Certainly, Adel had.

Look where _that_ had gotten her.

It would be the same for Sorceress Rinoa. Odine knew that eventually, they would come begging for his help in neutralizing the sorceress and her knight. When that time came, he would be ready.

They couldn't stop him thinking, planning. And while they _thought_ they had taken all of his assets and files and journals...had examined, decried as inhuman and destroyed all of his research...they hadn't. He had a failsafe. He _always_ had a failsafe. Backed up, encrypted, accessible only to _him_, in a location that only _he_ knew about. Adel had been fond of throwing tantrums and leaving wreckage in her wake, so Odine had made a habit of backing up _everything_. This situation was no different.

He hadn't managed to design and build the cryo-chamber that had imprisoned Sorceress Adel _right under her nose_, without knowing a thing or two about hiding what he was doing.

He allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction. He wasn't going to live forever, he knew that. But then, neither would the sorceress. She was _almost_ immortal; she would live for as long as she retained her power. Potentially forever, if nothing happened to her or her knight. But she _could_ be killed...and wasn't as hard as one might think.

Odine pondered that for a moment, wondering how he might engineer that and capture as much empirical data on what resulted that he could. It would be fascinating to see what kind of effect her death would have on the knight, or conversely, what kind of effect the _knight's_ death would have upon _her_. He wondered if she could be induced to bond with another knight in his stead, and if the young man was chosen carefully enough, would it keep her... tractable? Sane?

He'd considered that possibility before. Too many variables, all of them emotionally fraught and thus unpredictable, for him to calculate any probability of success. There was a greater likelihood that the sorceress would die with her knight...and then he'd be left with, once again, an unknown entity taking on her powers. Unless one of their children, if female, should inherit her power.

They were definitely a fascinating pair, Odine had to admit. Never before had a knight and a sorceress bonded so completely, so powerfully. And never before had a sorceress-knight pair managed to produce offspring. Prior to his incarceration, his "house arrest", he'd heard reports of how devastating they were when working together. Their role in Adel's and Ultimecia's demise was impressive to say the least, and that was before the bond had even been properly established.

What they had done since, had anyone taken a moment to think about it, had been more than impressive, it had been frightening. The liberation of Timber for an example, done while still early in their relationship, had illustrated brilliantly how seamlessly they could work together as a team...and _without_ the mindlink that came as part of the bond. _With_ it, they were nearly unstoppable. Nearly.

They thought they had everyone convinced that Sorceress Rinoa was no threat, relegating her very visibly to the infirmary or using her as "tactical support", making sure that she would be seen only using her magic to heal rather than using it offensively. It was a shrewd choice for both of them, and Odine couldn't fault the calculation behind it. If she kept up that ruse long enough, showed herself to be compassionate and non aggressive, and above all, not make _any mention whatsoever_ of the fact that she was a sorceress... People would eventually forget what she'd done in the past and not view her as a threat.

Odine however, was not convinced. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. And an immature child, being given enough power to rule absolutely...well, history has already recorded those results. Over, and over, and over again.

He considered how he might counter the threat that she and her knight presented that he alone was cognizant of. Ideally, he'd like to have them both at his disposal to study in depth. But really, it was too dangerous and impractical. The knight in particular would be incredibly difficult to maintain any kind of control over. As for the sorceress...interrupting the bond by blocking her magic had worked once before, and he'd made some refinements to the bangle design that he'd used on her the first time she'd been his "guest". She would be completely powerless, once it was placed upon her.

Then he could do with her what he wanted; study her and her power at his leisure...before doing what should have been done before. What he'd tried to do the last time she'd come into his possession. Seal her and her power like he had done with Adel, only this time, burying her deep underground where no one would find her. That would end the threat that she presented and sever the lineage of Hyne for good. So long as she neither lived nor died, remaining frozen forever in stasis, her power would be contained.

_Forever_.

The knight of course would have to die. That was the only way that Odine could be sure that he wouldn't attempt to free his sorceress again, and _this_ time follow through and grant her fervent wish. And killing him would not be easy. By now, he was a far cry from the green boy he'd been at their first meeting. Now, he was a seasoned veteran, and had matured both in his skills and his physical stature. He was bigger, stronger, smarter, and more experienced...but everyone has a weakness.

Odine already had a good idea of just what that weakness was. It was just a matter of finding out the best way of exploiting that weakness. Doing so would only aid him in capturing the sorceress and eliminating her knight.

* * *

><p>The Sorceress and her knight. Unfinished business. Dr. Odine <em>hated<em> leaving things unfinished. Hated loose ends. Hated the thought that _she_ had escaped him. Worst of all was the fact that Sorceress Rinoa was free to do what she would while he was left to simply rot and die in his solitary confinement.

But he had nothing to do but think, and plan. Nothing but time on his hands to devise a way to recapture the sorceress and eliminate her knight. Nothing but time to consider every angle, every weakness, every possible outcome. It wouldn't be easy to develop and put that plan in motion, but he'd managed it before. He could do it again.

First, he had to disarm suspicion. So, while he was being so closely watched, he would play the role expected and perhaps inject just a little bit of the "dotty old professor" routine to put his watchers off their guard. He was perfectly fine with taking years to do this if necessary, though he knew he wasn't getting any younger. The best strategy is one that incorporates all variables, and includes layers upon layers of subtlety. This part could not be rushed.

Next, he needed information. Somehow, he had to develop a network to feed him information on the sorceress and her knight; their movements, their family, anything and everything about them. Nothing, no matter how trivial seeming, should be overlooked. Was the knight still an active SeeD or had he been relegated to the more administrative position of Commander, retiring entirely from the field? Would his skills thus deteriorate as a result? _Had_ they? How much of a challenge would the knight actually be? How easy would he actually be to kill?

Was the sorceress still attempting to convince all and sundry that she was simply an ordinary young mother, and no threat to anyone? Was the rest of the world still in the dark as to her true nature and the power she held?

The next phase would require outside help, so he would have to cultivate that carefully from among those he had regular contact with. A challenging task, to be sure. BUT...if he managed to convince someone to visit a..._relative_ ...of his, he could make that person an unwitting messenger, delivering instructions that would set his plans in motion.

He had already formulated the message and the means of delivery. All it would take would be the touch of his hand. The nanites he'd encoded with all the information he had and the message that he wanted delivered, would be transferred by that touch. And this person in turn would simply touch the person Odine wanted the message delivered to. The message would be decoded by the host's own synaptic pathways. Elegantly simple, invisible, undetectable. They didn't even know he'd been working on nanotech.

Of course, he hadn't worked on it _here_. _These_ nanites were ones that he'd developed and completed just prior to his incarceration as a sort of side-project. He'd just been working on possible applications that his "smart" nanites could be used for, wondering how they might best be marketed. The vial containing them had been incredibly easy to smuggle out of his lab. He hadn't wanted to leave them behind for fear of them being stolen and his work pirated without proper credit to him. Therefore, he would take and hide them away, until such time as he conceived a need for them.

He diverted himself then for a few moments, thinking about the experiments he'd like to perform, the hypotheses he'd like to test out regarding this particular sorceress and her knight. He would like to dissect them both, piece by piece, carefully picking them apart until he finally unraveled that final mystery. And not just the mental/emotional/psychic complexity that their bond represented, but also how their physical biology played into it.

How exactly did the sorceress's magic change her body? How and where was it stored? How had it become such a part of her that only death could release that power to the next host? And finally, how _was_ that process accomplished, _exactly_?

He'd borne witness to the transfer of power to Adel when the previous sorceress had died; had interviewed and studied Edea in great detail and gleaned a great deal of knowledge from her, but there was so much still to learn and to understand. He felt that he'd only just breached the tip of the iceberg, and hungered for more.

Hungered too, to have the sorceress once more in his hands, under his control. Hungered again to have her flesh under his hands, her white, flawless skin exposed to his examination. So very fair, so lovely and pure...she was enough to warm even his cold blood. He would be careful not to permanently mar her lovely body, despite how badly he wanted to sink his scalpel into that soft flesh and watch the ruby red blood flow. How he wanted to study that contrast of bright red against pale white. No, he would be careful, and let her heal herself, seal the skin and erase the scars before he froze her into permanence.

She would be his trophy. His masterpiece. The cryo-stasis pod he'd constructed for her was as beautiful a frame for her as he could make it. Perhaps he_ wouldn't_ bury her deep underground after all. Perhaps he would simply keep her where he could gaze upon her and appreciate her anew..a far lovelier specimen of a sorceress than Adel had been.

If the knight could be captured alive, it would add additional depth to his study, but he would lose no sleep at the man's demise. The sorceress was the only prize he truly lusted after.

He hated having unfinished business.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: So, I'm no Stephen King, but here's my nod to Halloween. Hopefully, it's creepy enough to give you a bit of a chill...<p> 


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